Super
League competitions

Telstra
Cup

The Telstra Cup was a ten team competition held over eighteen
rounds. The season was dominated by the minor premiers, the Brisbane
Broncos, who won 14 of their 18 matches, losing only to the
Penrith Panthers, the Hunter Mariners and eventual runners-up, the
Cronulla Sharks. The Grand Final was played at Brisbane's ANZ Stadium in
front of 58,912 people, the ground record for that venue. The
Broncos defeated the Sharks 26-8 to win their third premiership.
The Auckland Warriors had teams in both the
Reserve grade and two age-group Grand Finals but lost all
three.

The winners in all grades were:

First Grade: Brisbane Broncos

Reserve Grade: Canterbury Bulldogs

Under-19s: Penrith Panthers

Under-17s: Brisbane Broncos

Tri-series

The Super League Tri-series was contested by New South Wales,
New Zealand and Queensland. Each team played the others once, with
the best two teams playing a final. New South Wales defeated
Queensland 23-22 in the final at ANZ Stadium

As News had signed up most rugby league organisations outside of
Australia, the ARL was starved of international competition. They
had intended playing a team of New Zealand players signed with ARL
clubs but the New Zealand Rugby League took out an injunction in
the Federal Court preventing the ARL from using the terms "Test",
"Representative Team", "New Zealand" or "All Golds". [1] The ARL instead
played Tests against rebel teams from Papua New Guinea and Fiji, as
well as defeating a Rest of the World team in July 1997.

World Club
Challenge

The World Club Challenge, which had been contested occasionally
since 1975, was expanded in 1997 to include all ten Australian
Super League clubs competing against all twelve European clubs. The
European teams were outclassed, winning only 8 of 83 matches, and
suffering many heavy defeats. The competition was unpopular in
Australia, and it lost $6,000,000 due to small crowds and heavy
travel expenses. The Brisbane Broncos won the final
defeating the Hunter Mariners 36-12 at Ericsson Stadium, Auckland.

World
Nines

In 1996 and 1997 the Super League World Nines competition was
held. In 1997 the tournament was known as the Gatorade Super League World
Nines due to sponsorship. Nines rugby league is a faster form
of the game with only nine players on the field at a time playing
in shorter halves. The World Nines competition were held as an
alternative to the ARL's World Sevens.

The 1996 World Nines were held in Suva, Fiji from
February 22 to February 24. The winner of this competition was New Zealand. The
1996 World Nines marked the first time that a video referee was
used for a game of rugby league. The 1997 World Nines were held in
Townsville, Queensland from
January 31 to February 2. New Zealand won this competition for the
second year in a row.

ANZAC
Test

An addition to the regular Tests played between Australia and
New Zealand, the ANZAC Test was introduced by Super League. There
was some controversy at the time for the use of the word ANZAC, as
many considered it inappropriate to compare sportspeople to
soldiers. Although it was dropped from the annual schedule in the
early years of the new millennium, it was revived in 2004, and is
now contested each year.

Night Grand
Finals

The Super League Telstra Cup Grand Final was played
on a Saturday night in Brisbane, whereas all NSWRL and ARL Grand
Finals were traditionally played on a Saturday afternoon (until
1980), or Sunday afternoon (from 1981). From 2001 the NRL has
played its Grand Finals on the Sunday night in October, to coincide
with a Public Holiday in New South Wales the following day.

Although a ratings success for the Nine Network, this scheduling continues to
upset traditionalists, who believe that having the Grand Final on a
Sunday afternoon allows people to better celebrate the day,
particularly with a Grand Final BBQ. Some in Sydney also believe that holding the Grand Final
at night disuades parents with young children attending. It is also
very unpopular outside of New South Wales, as there is no Public
Holiday in Queensland
the following day, and the Grand Final begins late in the evening
in New Zealand.

Video
Referees

At the Super League World Nines in 1996 the video referee was
used for the first time.[3]
The Video referee allows an official to check the veracity of tries
scored using footage from the television broadcasters. The NRL used
Video Referees from its first season in 1998.

Rule
Changes

A number of rule changes were introduced in both the Super
League and the ARL during the war that have been adopted by the
NRL. Super League innovations include:

An ARL rule change for the 1997 season that was adopted by the
NRL and is still in force is the popular 40/20 rule. Under this
rule, attacking teams kicking the ball into touch 'on the bounce'
from inside the 40 metres closest to their goal line, with the ball
crossing the sideline inside the opposing team's 20 metre area,
receives a scrum feed. Previously the defending team received the
scrum feed.